CEO BLOG: Shaping a New Era of Customer Excellence
Today signals the start of a new era for Telia Carrier as we officially become a standalone company with a new owner, Polhem Infra – a company focused on long-term infrastructure investment and backed by some of the largest Swedish pension funds.
As I reflect over 20 years as part of the Telia family, not only do I feel an enormous sense of pride in what we have achieved, but also immense gratitude to an owner, who for more than two decades has embraced our vision to become a leading global network – providing critical connectivity for businesses and societies across the world. From humble beginnings and a 2Mb/s connection to Europe, we now connect more than 65% of the global Internet routing table.
Along the way, we helped bring video online and we powered the social media revolution. We were the first non-US operator to get a US 214 license, the first to offer 100G services in both the US and Europe, and the first to break the terabit barrier in a live optical network. We were also the first Tier 1 provider to fully implement RPKI routing security and in doing so, helped lay the foundations of a more resilient global Internet backbone.
However, none of this would be possible without our customers and the faith they’ve put in us, year after year. And from day one, customer experience has always been our most critical investment. With our fantastic team, always ready to go the extra mile, we have fostered a customer-first culture, put superstars in the front line and built our business around the needs of our customers. Our obsession with customer excellence has given us the privilege to work with some of the best people in the industry and safeguard global communications – through good times and bad.
While there is of course an element of sadness as we officially part from many old friends at Telia Company, we will continue to work closely with our Nordic colleagues and secure world-class connectivity for Telia’s multinational customer base.
Looking forward, I am extremely excited about the future of Telia Carrier, where nothing and everything changes. Change is the very essence of our business and has always been the catalyst of growth in our network and business overall.
We will continue to focus on providing our world-leading connectivity solutions to customers on a global scale and deliver the high levels of service to which our customers are accustomed. However, under new ownership, we will also be able to accelerate the pace with which we expand our network – and provide even more customers with the Telia Carrier experience, just as we did recently in several key US regions. We will also rebrand our company, with a new name and renewed purpose – one that reflects our focus, technical excellence and dependability in an increasingly uncertain world.
Acquisition by a long-term investor such as Polhem Infra is of course testament to our many achievements over the past twenty years, but that’s only part of the story. There is enormous potential for us to grow in a world that breathes data, and with continued hard work and dedication from our fantastic team, the next part of our adventure promises even greater possibilities, and an opportunity for us to unleash the potential of even more customers. Our customers, partners and employees can rest assured that while we can’t predict the future, we will be ready!
To all our valued customers and employees – welcome aboard the new Telia Carrier!
Read the press release.
Staffan Göjeryd, CEO
